EPA Rolls Out New Rules Web Site

Agency offers easy tool for finding regulations that might impact ag, and it releases a list of pesticides it plans to test for endocrine disruptor activity.

Jun 14, 2007

Working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may be easier for the ag community thanks to a new Web site launched this week. The site provides a lookup tool listing federal environmental regulations that could impact agriculture. Knowing the rules before hand would allow farmers to address issues before they become a problem.

The site - which is an outgrowth of EPA's National Strategy for Agriculture, aims to improve communication, collaboration and innovation with the ag community, according to a press statement.

EPA has also published the preliminary list of 73 pesticides it will be screening for endocrine disruptor activity. Environmental worries over endocrine disruptors and their impact on the environment has been growing and EPA has developed new screening methods to determine if a compound has that activity.

The first list, which EPA stresses is for screening only, contains quite a few compounds that will be familiar to farmers. You can check the list out by visiting www.epa.gov/endo/pubs/prioritysetting/draftlist.htm. The agency is seeking comment on this list to be evaluated.